Mumbai, Delhi eye top spot in ISL (Preview)

Mumbai, Dec 2 (IANS) Mumbai City FC and Delhi Dynamos have already secured qualification to the Indian Super League (ISL) football semi-finals and will look to end their group stage commitments at the top of the standings with a win here on Saturday.

The two teams played out a high scoring 3-3 draw in the first leg in Delhi. As they battle again in the second leg for the top spot, Mumbai coach Alexandre Guimaraes believes goals will not be in short supply.

“This can be an open game, like the one in Delhi. When teams are liberated, they can play without too much concern. I hope fans can go there and support our team and we can give them a good performance and a good game,” said Guimaraes.

Mumbai are leading the table with 22 points, two ahead of Delhi, and a point will be good enough for them to finish on top. Costa Rican Guimaraes said he does not have any intention of resting key players for battles ahead.

“We have to continue to do what we have done well. For us, no matter what, it’s an important game because we want to finish with the best points. This is good for the whole organisation and that is our objective tomorrow. I am not going to rest any player. The player who will play have to be 100 percent fit,” he said.

Delhi have to win to finish the group stage campaign on top. In their last match against NorthEast United, Delhi were not their usual self and coach Gianluca Zambrotta has asked his team to pull up their socks.

“Against NorthEast United, we played a very low-intensity game. I didn’t like the first part and the team’s reaction after conceding two goals. We have to work together and play with a lot more intensity. We must have a good attitude for this game and also semi-finals. We should play like we know,” said Zambrotta.

Zambrotta made no secret of the fact that they want to finish on top.

“We want to win and try to be first in the league but it’s the same thinking that our opponents will have. We have done a good job until now and we are focused to finish the first part of the tournament in the best way. After that, we will prepare for the semi-finals and continue in the same manner,” said Zambrotta.